Bloated Buggos Burst their Barding

 

---

 

"Pull it TIGHTER, worm!"

 

"Nnngh...yes, Your Majesty!"

 

Queen Chrysalis grumbled as the two drones on either side of her worked. A corset of precious star spider silk, onyx black with luminous blue stitching, was currently stretched around her barrel. Hooves fumbled against her back as they struggled to cinch the garment closed.

 

"There!" cried a drone as the last tie was knotted. "All finished, My Queen!"

 

Chrysalis huffed and turned her gaze to the bedchamber mirror. The elegant garment was painfully tight, the fabric stretched drum-taut around her middle. As she gazed, the queen released the breath she had been holding.

 

The painful tightness of the corset increased. A sharp tearing noise filled the room as the silk stitching tore and parted. A moment later the garment's ties came undone, and the ruined corset fell to the floor. There was a soft blorp as the queen's green-banded belly surged forwards, jiggling as it sagged below her and squished into her legs.

 

Queen Chrysalis stared at the mirror in shock as the corset failed. Her lips peeled back as her face contorted with anger, and a growl of rage escaped her throat. Sparks of green energy crackled around her spired horn. The two drones who had dressed her fled the room in terror.

 

Gradually, the changeling queen regained her composure, exhaling slowly and dispelling her magic. Advisor Cellia, who had been watching from afar, stepped forward, ready to offer condolences to her queen.

 

Chrysalis frowned as she examined her reflection. Ruining her sculpted figure had NOT been a part of the plan. Her frown contorted into a scowl of disgust as she took in the swollen roundness of her gut. For the past week she'd been putting on weight at an alarming rate - she could no longer suck in her plumpened barrel, and now a corset failed to hide it! Her bony flanks were now soft and thick, wider than even the chunkiest of earth ponies, with an alarming habit of jiggling when she walked.

 

"HOW? How did this happen, Cellia?" Chrysalis asked frustratedly. "How did my beautiful figure become buried under so much fat? I must be fatter than even that sow Celestia!"

 

"I-it's the heart, My Queen," her advisor answered. "You must be absorbing more love from it than your magic can dispel. It might be a problem for the drones, too. If you could look over these quotas for the storage caverns-"

 

"Ugh. Later," Chrysalis said. She had just noticed the beginning of a double chin forming below her muzzle. "For now, I must find a way to expel this unwanted weight and return to normal!"

 

Cellia gently cleared her throat. "You majesty, perhaps we should part ways with the Crystal Heart?" the changeling chirped. "At least temporarily...we have more than enough love stored to-"

 

Chrysalis silenced her with a wave of her hoof. "Unthinkable! The Heart is mine by right of conquest. I'd NEVER abandon such a vast source of power!"

 

"Oh. Well, perhaps a little exercise? Some of the scouts have been holding races to burn off-"

 

"The Queen of the Changelings does NOT need EXERCISE!" the plump changeling bellowed, nose scrunching as she bared her fangs. Cellia cowered as Queen Chrysalis sauntered around the chamber ranting to herself. Her banded belly swayed like a blubbery pendulum, while her pillowy rump bounced and wobbled in rhythm with her gut.

 

"I'm more powerful now than ANY changeling before me! We've enough love stored to last decades! I just...need to find a way to expend this excess is all..."

 

"Military exercises?" her advisor suggested timidly. "Drilling the hive for battle could expend our energy."

 

"Drills?" Chrysalis stopped in her tracks and pondered. "Yes...an attack! No, an INVASION! Of course! With our newfound power, this is the perfect moment to CONQUER EQUESTRIA!"

 

Cellia gulped, smiling nervously as her queen let loose a villainous cackle. "Come, Cellia. There is much for you to do! A full inventory of drones and equipment must be taken. New armor and weapons shall be made for everyling! Battle tactics and magic must be rehearsed!"

 

Chrysalis sighed dreamily, her eyes glowing with mirth. "Oh, our conquest will be glorious...the greatest triumph over ponykind in generations..."

 

---

 

The military review was off to a slow start.

 

Preparations for the queen's invasion of Equestria had proceeded at a record pace until now. Wagons and sleds were packed to overflowing with stored love, weapons and supplies. The changeling artificiers had tested and perfected a surfeit of new, powerful spells to batter down pony fortifications and shield spells. The hive's armorers had worked frenetically to produce a thousand new sets of battle armor - helmets, peytrals and flanchards of gleaming blue metal, deadly spiked shoulder and hoof plates, and caparisons of sturdy chitin mail. No drone army in the hive's history had ever been so well-armed and armored.

 

The troubles began as they were mustered for battle. The queen's affliction of excess weight had been slowly spreading across the hive. Each day overfed changelings awoke to find themselves a bit softer. Round potbellies thickened the barrels of all but the most active drones. Love energy from the Crystal Heart was accumulating faster than the hive could store or expend it.

 

So when the call to assemble in the great hall, the swarm rushed to grab their new weapons and armor, but had great difficulty equipping them. Love-plumpened drones found that the new barding barely fit around their softened rumps. Soldiers struggled to belt plates and mail around their chubby new tummies. The armorers were beset with requests for wider fittings and looser straps.

 

Finally the changelings had squeezed themselves into their gear and mustered for review. Drones chittered excitedly as they stood in close formation, their chatter punctuated by grumbles of discomfort as the heavy armor pinched against their flanks and dug into their rounded barrels.

 

The drones turned and snapped to attention at the sound of armored hoofsteps and clanking armor. Queen Chrysalis waddled into view atop the great hall's balcony, illiciting the usual cheers from below. It had taken over an hour for her guards to squeeze her into the elaborate full barding she had commissioned for the invasion. Her head was adorned with an obsidian-black helm, richly patterned with inlaid silver and gemstones. Flexible metal crinieres connected it to a thick peytral plate around her chest, also inlaid with silver and polished to a gleaming shine. The set's matching croupiere had had to be repeatedly widened to fit around the queen's fattened flanks. A coat of thick chitin mail was cinched tight around her love-bloated belly, which bulged out her sides and hung nearly down to her knees.

 

Chrysalis struggled against the painful tightness of her barding. Sweat dampened her brow, and her legs were aching under the weight of so much heavy armor. But the sight of her army filled her with smug satisfaction. Ignoring the discomfort, the haughty queen held her head high and launched into her pre-invasion speech. "My dear subjects!" she crowed. "The time has come to put our great bounty to work! The Crystal Heart has made us stronger than any other changeling hive in history! We are now UNSTOPPABLE!" The assembled drones reacted with a confident cheer.

 

"With our newfound strength, we shall march on Canterlot! The pitiful ponies shall fall before us, and we shall soon rule ALL OF EQUESTRIA!" The cheers crescendoed into a roar of approval. Queen Chrysalis smiled smugly as she signaled to several drones in the chamber's upper balcony.

 

"Behold, the instrument of our victory!" she called out with a flourish.

 

At her signal, the Crystal Heart was lowered from the ceiling, bathing the great hall with blue-white light. The changelings cheered as they felt a familiar tinge of warm love energy wash over them. Chrysalis grinned ear to ear with glee. With so much power, victory over ponykind would be assured. Equestria would be HERS!

 

As the queen gloated, the tenor of the room began to change. The drones' cheers dwindled, replaced by gasps and grumbles of discomfort, then moans of pain. The room echoed with the squeaks and rasps of armor fittings. An undertone of gurgling rumbles emanated from the packed chamber floor.

 

What? What is happening? the queen mumbled to herself in angry confusion. A wet gurgle arose from within her own gut. She winced as her heavy armor grew tighter. Green eyes gazed upwards at the shining beacon of the Crystal Heart. A nervous realization set in. Oh no...

 

A loud SNAP sang out from the front row. Chrysalis looked down to spy a drone captain, muzzle scrunched with effort as he struggled to remain at attention. A second SNAP was heard as the straps fastening his flanchard in place came apart. The back armor piece clattered to the floor, taking his mail shirt and croupiere with it. The captain gasped with relief as his plump belly surged out an extra inch.

 

A chorus of snaps, clatters and gasps of relief filled the great hall as the changeling soldiers, feeding on love from the radiant Crystal Heart, began popping out of their armor. Swelling bellies tore through mail shirts and burst apart fastening straps. Thickening flanks deformed and forced apart croupieres. Discipline collapsed as the drones broke ranks, falling onto their sides or haunches to massage their swollen barrels. The remaining soldiers tore off their chest and rear armor pieces, freeing their chubby bodies from the painfully tight uniforms.

 

Queen Chrysalis watched in horror and fury as her invasion force fell apart. The pain of her own armor was becoming unbearable as the warmth of fresh love welled within her. Creaks and groans came from everywhere as it failed to contain her own swelling bulk. The changeling grit her teeth and held her breath, unable to speak, legs wobbling as she struggled to maintain composure. If she could just hold it together...restore discipline...

 

Lightheadedness finally forced her to exhale. With a series of loud SNAPS her chitin mail coat burst apart. The queen's love-stuffed belly GLORPED as it sloshed and surged outwards, now hanging inches above the floor. Her ornate croupiere cracked and clattered to the floor as her blubbery rump surged outwards, dimpling and sagging over her thickened thighs. Bits of metal plate and fasteners fell around her as the ruined armor fell to pieces.

 

Chrysalis stood mortified, her face flushed underneath her helmet. Her massive army lay scattered before her amidst piles of ruined armor and discarded weapons. Her ego deflated even as she felt her gut slowly swelling beneath her.

 

"Um, you majesty?" Advisor Cellia whispered from the edge of the balcony. The drone was mercifully allowed to remain unarmored, save for her helmet and a cape stretched around her own voluminous potbelly.

 

Chrysalis turned her head to look at her plump advisor, as if seeing Cellia clearly for the first time in days. Recovering her composure somewhat, the queen glanced back and cast her magic, grasping the Crystal Heart and hurriedly levitating it up and out of the great hall. The moans and groans of the changelings began to subside as the love of the Heart grew fainter.

 

Chrysalis gulped, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Right...have every soldier return their gear to the armories. Then have every drone report for love storage duty. Our invasion is postponed. I must...recalculate our strategy..."

 

The changeling queen turned and hurriedly waddled offstage, cringing as she felt her love-bloated barrel and flanks wobble. Cellia was left alone to restore order and convey the queen's commands to the captains. She did her best to project confidence, despite the absurdness of what had just happened. Surely Queen Chrysalis had a plan...

 

---

 

The badlands hive had slowed to a crawl. The hectic buzzing of flying drones had dwindled, replaced by slow hooffalls and echoing groans of overfullness. Gelatinous storage cocoons littered every cavern and crevice, the lower chambers having been packed to overflowing. A thick pall of love energy suffused every chamber and passageway.

 

The changelings inside grew fatter by the day as they gorged themselves on excess love. Only a handful of drones remained that were light enough to fly. The majority were forced to walk, waddling slowly as their swollen guts sloshed beneath them. The frantic energy of earlier days had been overwhelmed by lethargy as their muscles were swaddled by extra flab. Across the hive, changelings lay on their sides or on thickening haunches amidst unfinished statues, stacks of useless armor or piles of cocoons.

 

Royal Advisor Cellia huffed as she slowly waddled towards the queen's throne room. The collapse in discipline among her hive-mates was deeply distressing. None of the lieutenants were having much success getting the drones back to work. And the changelings greeted Cellia's own orders with vacant stares or lazy belches. What was she going to do, restrict their rations?

 

It didn't help that Queen Chrysalis hadn't been seen in days. The queen was Cellia's last hope. Surely she would agree that something needed to be done. This plague of overfullness needed to be stopped!

 

The plump changeling arrived at the entrance to the throne room. Noling was keeping watch outside, so she reluctantly pushed the burnished metal doors open herself. Almost immediately she felt the presence of the Crystal Heart. Advisor Cellia gulped and pushed forward, squeezing her swollen gut and flanks between the doors.

 

A half dozen of the queen's personal guards stood barely at attention just inside. Cellia's eyes widened as she took in their massive bellies, each swollen heavily from their proximity to the Crystal Heart. Two of them apparently could no longer stand properly, and so sat on their haunches, forehooves resting on their bloated guts. Scraps of body armor and leather fittings lay in discarded piles around their fattened bodies. A few of them acknowledged her presence with lazy nods.

 

Cellia trotted onwards towards the queen's throne, wincing as warm love from the Crystal Heart washed over her. The heart was suspended in between two pillars of craggy obsidian in the center of the room. Sweat beaded on the advisor's forehead as she made her way around the brightly glowing pillar. The craggy green stone of the throne lay behind it. Queen Chrysalis sat atop the seat, gazing at her prize.

 

Cellia was struck dumb by her size. The changeling queen's oversized throne now barely contained her massive bulk. The thick bands of her belly, now tinted a reddish-pink, swelled out in thick, tight rolls that bulged over the edge of her seat. Fat flanks overflowed the throne's pointy sides. Her holed limbs were caked with blubber, and her plump face sat atop a thick roll of flab.

 

Advisor Cellia took a deep breath and cleared her throat. Slowly, the blubbery queen turned her head to acknowledge the visitor. The changeling hurriedly bowed, wincing as her tummy grazed the floor.

 

"Mmm...yes Cellia, what is it?" Chrysalis drawled.

 

"My Queen, the hive is at a standstill. We're consuming too much love! Almost noling is working, and we haven't received new orders!"

 

"Mmph...lazy drones..." the queen mumbled. "Punish the shirkers, then resume preparing for battle. Our conquest of Equestria awaits."

 

Conquest?! Half the troops can barely move! "We MUST get rid of that Crystal Heart!" Cellia pleaded. "Its love is too rich! We're so overweight! Can't you see?!"

 

"RIDICULOUS!" Chrysalis crowed, waving a hoof dismissively. "This love is all rightfully mine, and-" *URRRP*

 

Queen Chrysalis moaned as her gut trembled, then bloated outwards by another inch. Cellia cringed as she stared at her beloved queen, once graceful and sleek, now swollen into a helpless love-glutton. Anger suddenly welled within her. Advisor Cellia drew in a shuddering breath, nose scrunching as she prepared to commit the first act of disloyalty in her entire life.

 

"Well, if you won't get rid of it, then I will!"

 

The drone's horn glowed a bright blue as her magic enveloped the pillar. Cellia squinted with concentration as she tugged the Crystal Heart free. The glowing pink artifact sailed across the room into her grasp. Cellia shuddered and recoiled from the intense love-energy. Her chitin felt uncomfortably hot, her eyes stung with tears, and her fangs and tongue burned as if her mouth was full of sugar. Gingerly she cupped the Heart with a hoof and turned towards the exit.

 

"What are you..." Chrysalis mumbled as she slowly realized that the Crystal Heart had moved. Wait! GUARDS, STOP HER!" the queen crowed, waving her plump forelegs in the air.

Cellia huffed as she struggled to waddle away on three hooves. The burning pink glow of the Heart forced her eyes into a squint. Sweat beaded around her forehead. Her back legs kept smacking into her fat belly, which sloshed and jiggled from side to side as she moved.

 

Ahead, the Queen's bloated guards scrambled to bar her escape. Two of them had passed out from the warmth and lay on their sides, snoring carelessly, oblivious to their queen's orders. A third kicked his hooves helplessly as his swollen gut rooted him to the floor. The remaining three wobbled into place, their blubbery bulk forming a phalanx blocking the way to the throne room door.

 

The needn't have bothered. Halfway to the chamber door Cellia tripped, faceplanting herself against the polished stone floor. The dazed advisor fell onto her side. Cellia blinked and shook her head. "Oh...where is it?" she asked the room, looking about for the Heart.

 

A pulse of heat against her side gave the answer. "Ah! It's underneath me!" Cellia called out to noling in particular. The Crystal Heart was pinned to the floor underneath her chunky body. Her legs flailed as she attempted to sit up, but the weight of her gut kept her rooted to the floor. Wriggling in place only succeeded in making her flanks and barrel jiggle. She was stuck!

 

The heat of the Heart against her side grew hotter. Cellia's eyes widened as her belly trembled, then began to swell. "Oh no! Please, someling help!" the changeling called to the guards, to the queen, anyling who would listen. The royal guards stared dumbly at their helpless superior. One trotted foreward to help, but tripped on his own swollen barrel and fumbled to the floor.

 

"G-get it away! Please!" Cellia chirped, her voice tinged with panic. Holed hooves squirmed against her gurgling belly as it bloated bigger and bigger with unwanted love. Her legs and neck grew thicker, and her already-chubby rear inflated in size. Sweat dripped from her face as she felt every part of her growing thicker, heavier, tighter...!

"Oooh..." the changeling moaned helplessly. Love-tinged drool dripped from her fangs and lips. A trail of pink ichor dribbled between her overstuffed rump cheeks and down her thickening thighs. Her fleshy chitin groaned and creaked as it was stretched taut.

 

"Too much...! Gonna s'plode!" Cellia squeaked out pitifully.

 

Across the room, Queen Chrysalis smoldered with irritation as she watched her subordinate swell. With a grimace of concentration, her horn lit up, and green magic enveloped her traitorous advisor. The queen rolled Cellia sideways like an over-swollen beach ball, snatching the Crystal Heart with her magic from underneath her belly. The changeling rolled back onto her side, belly hitting the floor with a soft *smack*. She gasped in relief as the overwhelming love-heat finally subsided.

 

Chrysalis levitated the Crystal Heart away from Cellia, towards her own waiting hooves. "Precious love...I'll never surrender you...!" she declared as she grasped it. Wisps of pinkish love-magic radiated from the glowing crystal towards her hungry mouth.

 

Chrysalis moaned in decadent delight as she fed directly on the Crystal Heart's love. Reddish love-drool poured from the corners of her half-open maw and pooled across her swollen chest. Sweat beaded across her overheated chitin as a furnace of love-heat welled inside her. The queen's belly glorped and gurgled as it filled with food. Her chitinous flesh began to creak and stretch as she packed on more fat, squishing tighter and tighter against her throne.

 

Cracks appeared at the base of the throne as it failed to contain the queen's skyrocketing weight. Finally the greenish stone cracked apart, spilling the overbloated monarch onto the chamber floor. Chrysalis belched and groaned as her massive bulk smacked onto the floor. Her enormous rear wobbled and sagged outwards, now free from the confining chair.

Queen Chrysalis wheezed as she stubbornly continued to feed on the heart. Her chitinous flesh groaned torturously as it was stretched to the breaking point. Holed hooves sank into legs swollen uselessly with pudge. The deepening crevice of her huge rump devoured her tail. Flabby jowls and chins threatened to envelop her eyes and mouth. And her titanic gut swelled out further and further, her skintight belly bands tainted an angry lovesick red.

 

Realization and horror suddenly cut through the pleasure of feeding as Chrysalis felt the stabbing pains of overfullness. Cellia was right...this was too much...any more and she would burst! Her eyes wrenched shut as she forced her lips closed, reducing the torrent of delicious love to a trickle. Her head swam as she fought to concentrate. Oh, suddenly she felt so full, so heavy, so HUNGRY, so-

 

"E...ENOUGH!" the queen managed to sputter. With a gasp of effort she grasped the Crystal Heart with her magic and flung it away. The artifact sailed across the throne room, landing with a clatter on the other side.

 

Chrysalis squinted back towards Advisor Cellia, laying unconscious on her bloated side, and the clump of royal guards beyond her. "Remove...that thing...from the hive at once!" she gasped, pointing a blubbery hoof towards the heart.

 

The three guards who were awake were still gaping at their enormous queen. One recovered enough to offer a salute and waddle towards the heart. The drone approached hesitantly, shying away from the intense warmth and light. As he grew close, a loud GLORP sounded from his fattened gut as it bloated out a few extra inches and squished against the floor. The changeling squeaked and flailed his legs, suddenly unable to keep both hooves on the floor and rooted in place by his own gut.

 

The other two guards saw this and balked, turning and waddling frantically towards the exit. The first drone reached the half-open doors and squeezed between them, but got stuck as his fat barrel wedged against the doorframe. As he struggled to pull himself through, drone number two collided head-first with his chunky butt and bounced off, falling backwards and becoming pinned under his own weight.

 

Queen Chrysalis groaned in chagrin at the useless guards. Her own body was hopelessly immobile, and her magic felt foggy and difficult to focus. And even from this distance, she could still feel love from the Crystal Heart radiating through them. Her painfully overtaxed belly gurgled as a steady trickle of love kept it full nearly to bursting. Oh, she was trapped! Her entire changeling swarm was trapped by this wretched source of love! What was she going to do...?!

 

Across the hive, the Crystal Heart bathed the unwitting changelings in endless love. The last of the flying drones gradually collapsed to the floor, the weight of their bodies finally exceeding what their wings could lift. One by one drones rolled onto their sides, or became wedged in doorways or sleeping niches. Belly rubbing became the most common pastime as the changeling struggled to digest the endless love-buffet. And with each passing hour they only grew bigger...and bigger...and bigger...